Arshile Gorky: Beyond The Limit

The astonishing story of a newly discovered painting by Arshile Gorky, uncovered by conservators after lying hidden behind the artist's remarkable work 'The Limit' (1947) for decades. In 1946, Arshile Gorky (1904-48) spent the summer at Crooked Run Farm in Lincoln, Virginia. In this time he produced almost 300 drawings, including a study for one of his most remarkable paintings, The Limit (1947)-which he described as the outcome of being "so lonely, exasperated, and how to paint such empty space-so empty it's the limit." Also among Gorky's output that summer was a related series later referred to as the Virginia Summer drawings. During a 2020 treatment on The Limit, conservators discovered another work nested behind it-an expressively painted canvas immediately recognizable by its relationship to the Virginia Summer drawings. Beyond The Limit reveals this newly discovered painting, referred to as Untitled (Virginia Summer). A series of brushstroke details positions readers close to both canvases, along with a plate section that presents both paintings, select drawings and reference works.